On the practicality of adiabatic quantum computing with optical schemes

A robust implementation of quantum logical gates for a multilevel system is possible through decoherence control under the quantum adiabatic method using simple phase modulated laser pulses. Selective population inversion and Hamiltonian evolution with time through ultrafast pulse shaping techniques essentially amount to adiabatic quantum computing (AQC) instead of the standard unitary transformation. An important aspect of the AQC model is in addressing the atomic or molecular ensemble and hence in robust implementation. We argue that experimental demonstrations of selective population transfer through adiabatic rapid passage form useful adiabatic quantum computing logic. Similarly, a simple Hadamard operation can be demonstrated with phase-modulated laser pulses. Finally, we present a framework to efficiently solve approximate Euclidean Traveling Salesman Problem (Approx-TSP) with bounded error in the AQC model. We present an efficient and intuitive encoding for Approx-TSP in a quantum computing paradigm. Optical approaches to quantum computing have the potential to be used in a distributive sense to defray the present caveat of limited resources and scalability. We present how we make use of such schemes towards practicality issues in AQC. As far as we know, our results are the first realistic demonstration of the possibility of using ensemble states for AQC in multilevel systems.